


A Place In Between

by The_angel_that_fell



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alien Planet, Diplomacy Fail, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, Unrequited Love, poison darts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 20:13:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11043492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_angel_that_fell/pseuds/The_angel_that_fell
Summary: It was meant to be a simple diplomatic mission, but nothing ever goes according to plan. Particularly not when Anakin, aliens with blasters, and the Trade Federation is included.But they shouldn't have been in danger.





	1. Poison

"We have no links to the Trade Federation," the four-armed alien lied smoothly.

"There is substantial evidence you have collaborated and co-operated in searches of Jedi and their padawans," Obi-Wan pushed. "We just wish to know if there are any Jedi being held on this planet at this moment."

"We have no links to the Trade Federation, and no reason to discriminate. But you are foreign, mere guests, and so to intrude further would put strain on our relationships with you."

Obi-Wan sat back. After hours of negotiating, Anakin could see even his near-infinite patience was wearing thin after so long with nothing gained. Anger at how his Master had been treated flared up.

"That's bantha shit and you know it," Anakin hissed, ignoring Obi-Wan's shocked 'Anakin!'. "You can't blind yourself to this-"

"Anakin!" his Master thundered, and everyone, including him, went still and silent. "You will not disrespect our gracious hosts and you will not use such language!"

The padawan dipped his head and said, "Sorry, Master," with only a slight bite to the words. The negotiations continued but the affronted aliens refused to give ground, until at last Obi-Wan gave in for the day. The room cleared quickly, one of the guards escorting the Jedi to their rooms. Obi-Wan didn't speak a word while accompanied by the security personnel, but the second the door for their quarters shut behind them, he turned on Anakin.

"Your childish outburst could very well cost us this planet's alliance, not to mention the lives of any Jedi trapped and imprisoned here! I know patience is not your strong point, but all I require is for you to be silent. Why could you not be quiet this time?"

Anakin's stare was probably about to burn holes in the floor. Obi-Wan realised something was very wrong when his apprentice didn't snap back some angry retort or insult. He frowned.

"Anakin, what is troubling you?" he asked, his tone gentler. The padawan simply shook his head and didn't reply. Obi-Wan reached out to touch his mind through the bond, and found to his surprise steel barriers around his thoughts. Whatever was the problem, it was more than tiredness or stubbornness.

"They were... insulting to you," Anakin responded, his jaw clenching.

"Insults has never bothered you before, In fact, when the Ragnarog threw us into that Sarlacc pit you were practically laughing."

A muscle feathered. "It's different now," he muttered.

"Why?"  

No reply.

"Communication is important, my young apprentice."

"May I meditate, Master?"

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, closed it and nodded. Anakin headed for the balcony overlooking the city and his Master watched him go, feeling somewhat confused by the turn of events. His padawan rarely meditated voluntarily, and it was always when he'd been panicked or stressed out by something he hadn't foreseen. Odd.

 

The next morning Obi-Wan awoke to the feeling of unfamiliar figures around him. He opened his eyes to see Anakin already up, hands behind his head and looking very much aggravated by the blaster poking into his chest.

 _Now,_ Anakin thought down the bond and in a few quick movements both their lightsabers were in their hands and the guards lay crumpled on the floor.

"I believe we have outstayed our welcome," Obi-Wan remarked.

"Indeed, Master."

He crossed to the balcony and looked down. A ring of guards stood around the base of their lodgings. He would have bet his last credit more stood outside the door.

"I think we will have to climb," he said.

 

The wind buffeted their clothes and tore at their grip. Above him, Anakin remained steady, dark hair blown backwards, searching for the next grip or toehold. The spire loomed tall and grey higher up. From there, Obi-Wan hoped they could rest and work out their next move.

Anakin reached it before him, stretching down a hand to help him up. They sat catching their breath for a second, pressed side to side, gripping the spire's smooth metal like a lifeline.

"What do we do now, Master?" his padawan asked. Obi-Wan looked at him and saw light dancing deep in his dark eyes, a smile on his face. Clearly Anakin had been enjoying the climb far more than he had.

"There is a building opposite us," he observed. "I'll go first, use the Force to get myself across." He stood unsteadily, the wind ripping at him stronger than ever now he was on his feet. It wanted to tear him away and hurl him down to the ground.

He took a deep breath in and his eyelids fluttered closed.

_Now._

He hurled himself across the gap, bringing the Force up at the last moment to carry him the final few meters and cushion his landing. He rolled to his feet.

"Anakin," he called. His padawan barely even paused before following in his wake - but clumsily, losing control at the last minute and instead of landing gracefully, tripping up at the edge of the roof and falling forward. Obi-Wan caught him just in time and set him on his feet.

"It appears practice is needed for more control," he reprimanded.

"Sorry, Master," Anakin apologised, flushing slightly. The Jedi Knight set the pace, hurrying down the stairs of the tower.

And into an ambush.

Blaster fire ripped into them. Obi-Wan was on the floor before Anakin had registered fully the set of guards and the smirking alien diplomat behind them.

His Master was on the floor. Blood leaking from wounds.

Fire ignited inside Anakin and he stepped protectively over Obi-Wan, lightsaber out, deflecting the blaster shots. And then he cut into them brutally, swiftly, until it was only him and the diplomat standing face to face. Fear lit its features.

"Please-" And its head rolled.

"Ani," he heard and turned, saw his Master try to sit up.

"Master," he whispered, seeing the wound in his shoulder, and then the dart in his neck, one that the diplomat must have shot. "Stay still." He plucked the dart from his skin and pocketed it for later analysis. "Can you stand?" He helped him sit up, worried at how much weight he had to support.

"Really should have predicted that," Obi-Wan muttered and, despite everything, Anakin had to laugh.

"You're not all-seeing, Master."

"Does me good to be reminded of that," he said, and that was when his padawan saw the hand clamped over the wound in his side. This wasn't going to be easy. Anakin gently removed the hand over it and probed at the edges cautiously, praying that it hadn't hit any vital organs. The shot seemed to have mostly cauterised the flesh, so although there was a trickle of blood staining his robes, it wasn't too bad.

Well, agonising pain aside.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan gritted out from behind clenched teeth. "There's going to be more coming. You have to leave me."

"Not happening, Master."

"Anakin!" he gasped when his apprentice tried to get him to stand. "For once in your life will you listen to me. You're meant to bring balance to the Force. I'm not worth dying for."

Pain flashed in the bond, along with something else. Love. And not the normal, Master-padawan kind.

Suddenly a lot of things made sense. He looked at Anakin and his apprentice dropped his eyes.

"I am deeply sorry, Master. I did not mean show you that."

"No worry," he answered automatically. "You need to go."

"No. Sorry, Master, I'm staying."

He opened his mouth for another retort, but was cut off by a wave of nausea and dizziness.

"Master!"

"I think I've been poisoned," he said shakily.

"Kriffing hell," Anakin muttered. "The dart."

"The what?"

"Don't worry."

"Oh, that's reassuring. I've been shot twice, poisoned, had to jump off a tower, chased by angry aliens, woken up with a blaster in my face and had to spend two days negotiating with the Trade Federation, but now you tell me not to worry." Concern flashed down the bond and Obi-Wan attempted a weak smile. "Ani, I'm dying. Just go."

His padawan's features tightened into recognisable stubbornness and his jaw set. Clearly, there was no way he was going anywhere.

One slow movement at a time, Anakin got him to his feet. He slung one of his Master's arm around his shoulders and leant into him, bracing himself against the limp weight, until they were both upright. He could feel the Force his padawan was using to help support him.

They moved at a snail's pace down the stairs. Although Obi-Wan never complained, Anakin could tell the poison was beginning to wear on him, aggravating the pain of the wounds and blurring his sight. He needed the antidote, fast.

 

By the time they reached the bottom, R2-D2 was waiting with the ship. Anakin managed to get his Master in and piloted them away - not out of the atmosphere, but to the other side of the planet, where the news of the Jedi wouldn't have reached yet. Hopefully here someone would be able to identify the toxin. But the second Obi-Wan was out of the speeder, Anakin's hope disappeared. The Jedi was pale and feverish and shaking.

"Master," Anakin said desperately, kneeling in between in his legs and gripping either side of his face. "Master, hold on."

"Anakin?" he murmured, fingertips brushing his shoulders.

"I'm here," he answered.

Obi-Wan realised Anakin's shields were down and he wasn't even trying to get a hold of the emotions flowing through the bond. Love, pain, grief, fear, anger. Desperate hope.

"Hold on, Master," he heard, but it sounded like it was coming from the end of a long tunnel.

"Master, please!"


	2. Antidote

Anakin sat and watched his Master. His chest rose and fell in that same, steady rhythm and his eyes remained closed.

It had been two days.

Two days since Obi-Wan had been both shot and poisoned; two days since they were found by villagers who thought more of the Jedi than of the Trade Federation. 

Two days since Anakin had any hope.

"He should wake within a day," the villagers had said, gesturing with their four arms. "If he doesn't, he will almost certainly die."

Anakin hadn't called the Jedi Council, and they hadn't tried to make contact, so it was unlikely they knew about the fight and the state Obi-Wan was in.

But despite everything, he looked... peaceful in sleep, face smooth and free of the concerns that had engraved themselves into his eyes when he had been awake. His hands were crossed over his chest like he was dead and waiting to be cremated.

He looked beautiful.

Anakin thought back to the moment when he'd accidentally let his feelings for his Master slip down the bond. Obi-Wan's widened eyes, the understanding on his face, the quick words, the insistence he be left to die. Anakin leant over and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. He would never leave his wounded Master to be brutally executed by the Trade Federation, and he wasn't going to start now.

 

Obi-Wan dreamed strange, distorted dreams. A vision of a figure clad in black metal, breathing loudly through its mask, red lightsaber at the ready. Yoda, weak and alone on a swamp planet, dying at last. A scavenger and a stormtrooper. A curly-haired pilot with a worn jacket.

And Anakin, Anakin holding his hand, Anakin gripping his face and pleading, Anakin's eyes dancing with laughter, Anakin holding him close, Anakin kissing him, stroking back his hair, hugging him, saving his life, dancing with him, defying the Council and the Jedi Order. Anakin's lips, his shoulders, his muscled chest.

His life, Anakin's life, their lives. Memories and visions, warped images, until it all faded to black.

 

Obi-Wan didn't stir. But he did talk in his sleep, in fits and starts and with words or sentences trailing off halfway through. Sometimes there was a mention of planets and people Anakin had never heard of, but mostly it was familiar. 'Master!' he breathed out softly, pain in his voice. "Please... don't die. Don't leave me." Anakin closed his eyes and waited until his master spoke again.

"Anakin."

His head jerked up, but he was still asleep.

"I can't love- I need- I can't have- I love you, Anakin. But it's forbidden. Why is..." His words drifted off into incoherent mumbling, and then finally, silence.

 

Obi-Wan's eyelids began to flutter two hours later. Anakin hadn't moved from his chair, until he felt the tiniest tug on the bond.

"Master?" he asked desperately. Slowly, the Jedi's eyes opened.

"Ani," he breathed.

"Oh, thank God. You're alive. You're fine," Anakin answered, grasping his hand.

"'Fine' has varying definitions," he muttered. "I have been shot. Twice, I think."

"Yeah, but nothing dangerous."

The villagers hurried in and shooed Anakin away to take his Master's temperature and give him a collection of strong-smelling herbs. The padawan paced outside relentlessly until he was allowed back in.

"He'll survive," the healer told him. "In a day, you can be gone, and the poison will naturally work its way out his system."

"Thank you," Anakin said.

"May I ask... what is your relationship?"

"He's a Jedi. I'm his apprentice."

"Excuse me," the alien said curiously, "but is it nothing more? I have rarely seen such trust and loyalty."

"It's nothing more," Anakin said sharply, and left to visit Obi-Wan. Great. Now aliens were seeing how he felt.

 

They left the planet and reported to the Council, who promised to send a delegation to deal with the threat, and finally they returned to their quarters in the Jedi Temple. Obi-Wan spent three hours meditating, leaving Anakin unable to talk to him.

Eventually his Master was available to talk to. Anakin decided to approach the subject carefully, as he had no idea what reaction he'd get.

"Master?"

"Yes, Anakin?" 

"When you were shot, I... revealed something I shouldn't have." Obi-Wan set his back against the wall, eyes gentle.

"Anakin, emotions like that are likely to occur if you spend all your time within proximity of someone. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed." His Master's brows rose, but Anakin pushed on. "I know that- that it goes against the Jedi Code, everything I've trained for. Everything you trained for too. But you talked while you were unconscious, and I thought... it might be worth talking about."

"Anakin, my feelings and emotions and private. But I would never, ever, let them get in the way of the Order. We will speak no more of this."

"But Master-"

"No more," Obi-Wan insisted, and even the padawan recognised it would be fruitless to demand more.

 

But some things never really disappear. And so two weeks later, when Anakin was admitted to the medics after a battle, Obi-Wan sat with him and refused to leave his side.

"Thank you, Master," Anakin smiled as the Jedi, by some miraculous feat, managed to turn away the aliens determined to question him.

"You need your rest," he replied, sitting down again.

Time seemed to freeze as Anakin glanced at his lips and then away again. As he looked up and saw Obi-Wan watching him.

As he slowly, carefully, leaned in and pressed his lips to his Master's.

Obi-Wan responded, to his shock, kissing him hungrily until they had to stop to breathe.

"Master," Anakin said quietly.

Obi-Wan rubbed at his face with his hands, not making eye contact.

"Master."

He looked up.

"It's not weak to love someone. It doesn't make you a bad Jedi. It just means there's someone else to rely on."

"When did you get so wise?" he muttered.

"I learned it all from you," Anakin answered honestly. Obi Wan took a deep breath in and expelled it, meeting his padawan's eyes at last.

"I was afraid," he said. "Of losing you. Of someone finding out. Of you finding out and hating me for it."

"I couldn't ever hate you," Anakin said, smiling.

This time, it was Obi-Wan who leant forward and Anakin met him halfway, mouths colliding.

"I love you," Anakin whispered onto his lips and felt his Master smile.

They had each other. Even if the whole galaxy was destroyed, even if the Jedi Order crashed and burned, they had each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end!!!

**Author's Note:**

> I live for feedback


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